Examining the DOJ’s Challenge to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Acquisition of Juniper
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) proposed a $14 billion deal in early 2024 to acquire Juniper Networks. HPE, it should be noted, is not the Hewlett Packard (HP) of printer and ink fame, as it was spun off from the larger HP corporation in 2015. Instead, HPE is, like Juniper, involved in connectivity—specifically, wireless technology, including software and hardware to deliver internet access to large enterprises and campuses.
After a nearly yearlong investigation under the Biden administration, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ)—under President Donald Trump’s interim head of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division—issued a complaint Jan. 30 seeking to block the acquisition. This decision is particularly notable because the acquisition has already been approved by 14 other international regulators, including the European Commission (which found that “HPE and Juniper are not each other’s closest competitors”) and the United Kingdom (which explained that the acquisition “does not give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition”).